Liverpool went top of the league on Saturday afternoon as they came from behind against Crystal Palace.
It wasn’t a good display from the Reds, but they showed the grit and determination of champions at Selhurst Park. Here’s how we rated the players on Saturday, and one or two might want to look away
Defence
Alisson Becker: 8 – It was great to see Alisson back in the starting line-up after injury and he was one of the Reds’ best players today. One absolutely superb stop in the first-half is right up there with his best. Made another big stop in the dying seconds of the game. Wonderful to have him back.
Trent Alexander-Arnold: 4 – Rio Ferdinand praised Trent’s passing in the lead-up to the game, but it was nowhere to be seen once the game kicked off. A move into central midfield first-half failed to ignite him, as the Scouser failed to build on a good run of form.
Jarell Quansah: 6 – Quansah came in and did a solid job overall. His passing is nice and crisp, but he was rightly punished for a sloppy challenge on Jean-Philippe Mateta to give away a penalty. Substituted shortly after.
Virgil van Dijk: 7 – Another good day at the office for Van Dijk, who was comfortably Liverpool’s best defender on the day.
Kostas Tsimikas: 4- A dreadful display from the left-back who has been much better of late. Didn’t use the ball well and too often got in the way of Luis Diaz in-front of him. Having done well recently, this was a concerning performance from the 27-year-old.
Midfield
Wataru Endo: 3 – Endo has rightfully been praised recently for some excellent performances. However, today’s performance was a reminder of the £16m man’s limitations. Too slow in possession and too easy to brush off the ball. Taken off at half-time and can have no complaints. Awful.
Dominik Szoboszlai: 5 – There has been plenty to admire about Szoboszlai this season, but he’s gone off the boil of late. Having bagged a goal midweek, Klopp gave him the chance to go again, but he was utterly anonymous.
Ryan Gravenberch: 4 – Hasn’t done enough to cement his place in the team of late and that continued at Selhurst Park. Too loose in possession and guilty of making the wrong choice in good positions more than once.
Attack
Mohamed Salah: 5 – Finally got his 200th goal for Liverpool, but it was not a memorable one. Kept on going but just couldn’t impose himself on the game fully.
Darwin Nunez: 3 – A goal-less showing today means it’s now eight games since Nunez found the net. In the intervening games, the 24-year-old has at least been contributing, but that was not the case today. Nunez offered zero threat and failed to do anything at all to help Liverpool get a result. Need more.
Luis Diaz: 4 – It’s perhaps time to start a conversation about Diaz, who has regressed alarmingly this season. He was probably the best of the Reds’ attackers first-half but dropped completely out of the game in the second.
Substitutes
Joe Gomez: 8 Man of the Match – A brilliant showing from Gomez who was comfortably Liverpool’s best player on Saturday. Got up and down the wing diligently and used the ball well when in attacking positions. It was his ball in that caused the chaos ahead of Salah’s equaliser.
Cody Gakpo: 7 – Contributed to Liverpool being much better in the later stages of the game. Drove forward well and looked a bigger threat than any of the starters.
Ibrahima Konate: 5 – Another slightly edgy display from Ibou, who came on and seemed intent to foul every player in a red and blue shirt.
Harvey Elliott: 8 – The culmination of a terrific little season for Elliott so far. Gamely went about his business and deserved to be the man who got the winner for Liverpool. Nice goal too, as his left-footed strike from the edge of the area won the day.
Curtis Jones: 6 – Another who improved the Reds on the day. Could have done better with one left-footed pull-back having been found by Salah, but was in and around things for the equaliser, which would have been a penalty had Mo not found the net.
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